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Post by Everie Vicomt on Dec 13, 2012 3:08:26 GMT -5
It had been a common practice among individuals hiring Everie to merely sketch a crude drawing and begin to point in a general direction. For mercenary work, it was a tactic that worked brilliantly. So long as someone who looked vaguely like the chicken scratch stick figure wound up in the dirt, she was handed a stack of coins she never cared to know the value of. Usually she would just throw them at the kids as they ran away from her.
"Smelly runts in Prague would grovel at my feet if I tossed currency of any kind at them" she scoffed as she tried to make sense of her current direction. Instead of a person they had attempted to give her a map of the local area leading to an X. Almost like a treasure map. Except treasure is usually at the end of a treasure map, not some insane Japanese person who would try for her life soon as he realized she was trying for his. Seven months ago, the element of surprise was on her side.
But wouldn't ya know it, be the only white girl for miles, start chopping heads off, and people begin to recognize you. It was wonderful for business, just not the actual business. Still, it was fun that couldn't be ignored. Besides, who else would go off blindly with directions from a man so old he couldn't see clear enough to tell if he still had feet. Somehow, he had shuffled up to her though, so something was working somewhere.
Now here she was, somewhere near the lake, as it said to be, with little to no luck getting any further. The lines for the lake and the path she was supposed to take were starting to blend into one giant mess. At some point it even looked like she was expected to go into the water. What decent human being would send another human being, clad in armor, into the water, just to look for some...whatever he was. Truthfully, she never had any idea what "crimes" her targets had ever committed. Someone put forth the coin and that was that. For all she knew, it could be her client paying to off the person they wronged. Aw well.
"Would it kill you people to civilize and hand a girl a real map? Not something your kids drew for you," she began to complain once again. It was bad enough she was in a still fairly new country, now the locals were trying to send her on wild goose hunts. Trying wasn't entirely correct, since she was typically lost on a weekly basis in some area or another. At some point in time, there would have to be a way for Everie to communicate to these people that their skills with directions were sub par.
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Post by Kage on Dec 14, 2012 2:26:03 GMT -5
Kage sighed tiredly, looking down at her bruised and dirty feet. She didn't mind so much having no shoes, but there was a downfall to that. After so much walking, your feet eventually started to hurt. A short breeze tangled through her long, wavy raven locks and she shifted her knapsack on her shoulder. The woman continued down the path, after finally it weaved into an opening. She couldn't help but smile a little relief as the water of Lake Biwa came into view. Kage moved through the weeds and grass encroaching the massive lake.
She grimaced a bit as her bruised feet finally met the rocky, sandy shore of the lake. She quickly glanced around, before dropping her bag on the ground. Kage slowly removed her obi and peeled the outer layer of her plain black kimono off. Her black, dirt stained clothing fell to the ground and she moved towards the lake in her undergarments. The yōkai dipped her feet into the cool waters of the lake, scrunching her toes into the sandy floor. After a moment, Kage sighed in relief. She knelt down scrubbing the dirt from her feet. When she finished, she turned her blood red eyes spotting someone. A woman just down the shore. She was wearing the most...peculiar armor. And the woman's skin was as white as Kage's.
Kage couldn't help but stare, watching the woman wearily as she walked towards the lake. The yōkai slowly moved from the shallow shore of the lake, grabbing her kimono off the ground. She pulled her clothing on, not bothering to replace her obi or even to attempt to tie the kimono closed. Kage continued to stare at the woman, still bemused by her odd appearance.
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Post by Everie Vicomt on Dec 14, 2012 2:55:29 GMT -5
Focusing on where your feet are headed is difficult to do when fixated on an object in front of your face. Even more so true for someone like Everie who was trying like hell to decipher the secrets of this map. Well, they weren't really secrets, but to her she may as well have been on the hunt for archaic ruins. This couldn't even classify as child's art.
Finally she let her eyes remove themselves from the 'map' and look at her surroundings. Scanning around showed her she had encroached upon the lake, potentially nowhere near where she needed to be. Then again with these directions. Further looking gave way to a figure standing off a little ways. It was incredibly doubtful the thing spoke a lick of the tongue Everie did, but maybe it knew how to point and guide better than that daffy old man.
"Hey! You! Wait right there!," she squawked as she started moving the best she could in that direction. Finally catching up to the creature showed Everie it was a woman she had found. Or at least she hoped it was a woman. With these oriental men there was sometimes no telling. "I need you to tell me just where in the hell this place is" she told the woman, pointing to the X on the map. Here was to hoping this thing understand something.
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Post by Kage on Dec 14, 2012 3:20:21 GMT -5
Kage made no movement as the woman started shouting at her. She swept her obi from the ground, lacing it around her waste and fastening it over her kimono. She gently fastened the inner lining of her kimono under the obi. As the woman drew closer, Kage peered perplexed by the armor that encased the woman's body. Her red eyes caught Everie's sharp blue eyes and she faltered a little. That definitely was not normal.
The yōkai slipped her hands into the sleeves of her kimono, folding her arms in front of her. "What are you saying?" She asked, not understanding the brown haired, blue eyed stranger was saying. "I'm sorry I don't under-" Kage paused, glancing at the map and the X that the woman jabbed at. "Huh?" She stared at the X, before looking back up at Everie. "Are you trying to go there?" She sighed. "You probably can't understand me, if I can't understand you." Kage couldn't help but smile. She pulled her pale hands from the inside of her sleeves and gestured down shore.
"I can take you there." She said, knowing it was likely useless to try to explain to the woman. Kage pointed to herself, "Kage, Kah-gey." She repeated, smiling and nodding. She grabbed her bag from the ground, pointing down shore again. "I will show you." Kage reached for the map slowly, nodding again, hoping the foreigner understood what she was trying to say.
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Post by Everie Vicomt on Dec 21, 2012 20:58:08 GMT -5
Clearly these two women couldn't, and probably wouldn't ever understand each other verbally. At least she had managed to figure out where she was headed. Maybe she needed to get them to draw her treasure maps more often. As she spoke what Everie could only imagine was her name she nodded. "Yup. Got it. You know your name. Doubt I can pronounce mine for ya." she said as plainly as possible.
It wasn't that she was trying to be rude, though if the woman could understand her, it might come off that way. Lucky for her, no one knew what she was rambling about. With Kage holding onto her map she was placing minor amounts of faith in the creature. If she led her astray, which was always possible in these parts, then it could still become a fun day. Looking the woman over again didn't apply the best insight to her abilities. Still, Everie doubted some stray woman out near this lake could best her.
"Well, let's be on our way then" she somewhat instructed Kage, motioning for her to take the lead.
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Post by Kage on Dec 24, 2012 17:03:32 GMT -5
Kage's red eyes stayed intently focused on the strange foreigner in front of her. After a moment, the woman said something she couldn't really understand. The yokai shook her head slowly, as if to tell the woman she didn't understand. This was awkward, to say the least. Well, at least if she could get the woman to wherever it was she was going, it would be no problem.
A few moments passed and finally it seemed the foreigner was ready to move. Kage nodded again, glancing at the map once more. She offered the shoddy piece of parchment to the foreigner before starting. The black clad yokai walked at somewhat of a leisurely pace, following the edge of the lake.
(Where would you like to go with this? :3)
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Post by Everie Vicomt on Dec 27, 2012 10:05:27 GMT -5
(Uh, I was thinking she gets lead towards the extremely "wrong" location. Let chaos ensue from there. And by wrong I mean she thinks it's wrong, but Kage is right.)
Keeping herself away from the water as they wandered was a growing challenge. As much as she refrained from getting wet when she had her armor on, Everie was in every mood to say the hell with it and go for a swim. But it had been a while since she received some coins to toss about, so business had to come first.
'I will remember you lake. And you will clean me to my hearts desire,' she made a mental note, despite not truly needing one for a lake so large. Peaking over the other woman's shoulder, Everie wondered if she really knew where they were going. If she got lead astray...
Looking around made her mind begin to accept they were in fact not where they needed to be, nor heading in the right direction. What gives? Did this thing plan to get her lost and devour her? It's not like she was beyond cannibalism herself...so why not another? I mean, gotta survive somehow right?
"Alright, what gives? Are you trying to eat me? If so just go ahead and knock me out and butter me up. But start at my legs, then I can have some too. Maybe my arms. They're juicy. I don't want you having the juicy bits" she began to accuse Kage. Damn, now she was getting hungry.
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Post by Kage on Dec 28, 2012 2:27:58 GMT -5
(Hurr, sounds good to me! :3)
Kage wasn't really paying any mind to the woman she was leading. Her eyes had been focused on what lie ahead of them, having to recall the map as she walked. They were almost there, it wouldn't be much longer and Kage could go back to bathing in the lake. The yokai's thought was interrupted however, as the woman began speaking again. She turned her gaze sideways, staring at the woman. "Hm?" She didn't understand. Kage shook her head. "I'm sorry. I don't know what you've said, we're almost there." She raised her hand, pointing ahead.
Ahead of them was a small jetty of land, poking out into the lake. The edges of the land had massive rocks, curled against the bank. The water licked against the stones, which had obviously been put there by man, or otherwise. Kage continued down the shoreline, moving out into the small peninsula that encroached upon the lake. "Here. This is the spot on the map." She said, finally stopping. She pointed to the piece of parchment in Everie's hand. "Here." Kage said again. She knew it was probably pointless to try, the woman obviously didn't understand her language. But still.
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Post by Everie Vicomt on Dec 30, 2012 9:26:21 GMT -5
Her mind was blown. Out of all the things she couldn't grasp, cannibalism of a greater being was on the list. Shouldn't that translate naturally? Soon however her hunger and desires to taste her own globs of flesh disappeared when the other woman's fingers began pointing out into the landscape then back down to the map.
" No no no! That's wrong. Do you hear me? W. R. O. N. G. Wrong. Bad bad bad!," she began to scold the yokai. Great, she was lost worse than she had been if she just stuck to her own wits and wandered for a few days. Then her stomach growled again. " Well hell, I understand the concept of can-" her train of thought cut off by sounds emerging from the area Kage was pointing towards.
Much to her dismay, they were in fact in the correct place. Unfortunately, she had shouted at this little thing loud enough to lose the element of surprise. A few of the bandits she was instructed to slaughter had popped their heads up, speaking in a tongue she didn't understand.
'Hell, I hate fighting on an empty stomach' she scolded herself before drawing Calcifer. Clearly her new friends had the same idea. She could only hope they did not match her skill with a bow. Which in these lands would be tough, considering her skills were pretty low, but steadily improving by her standards. It wasn't like swinging a sword. She had to actually time and calculate things. Neither were her strong points.
"The hell with it, you, and you," she snorted, the last jab directed at Kage before launching an arrow. It missed horribly. A similar volley was exchanged. Further dismay ensued. They were far better shots than her. Most of the metal buried into her own armor, but some of it found a new home near her shoulder. That was gonna make for one hell of handicap today.
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Post by Kage on Jan 5, 2013 19:19:22 GMT -5
The woman at Kage's side was yelling at her again. The yokai shook her head, trying to remind Everie she had no idea what was being said then or before. The woman's tone had taken a turn for the worse, and Kage glanced around the land poking into the lake wearily. Had she looked at the map wrong maybe? She didn't think so, this was pretty clear on the map. Maybe the woman didn't understand, at least that's what Kage was going to have to assume at this point. However, before she could open her mouth to say anything on the matter (not that Everie would even understand), sounds could be heard from where she had just been pointing.
Bandits. Great. Just great. She had just walked into a fight with some foreigner. Kage wasn't much for getting upset, but this was not good. The necromancer sighed, shaking her head again. Suddenly, the foreigner had her bow out and Kage grimaced. Her red eyes flicked towards the bandits, as they drew out their bows as well. Everie snapped something at her, but the yokai was on the ground, drawing in the dirt and muttering. Kage didn't want to hurt anyone, but these bandits hadn't given her much of a choice. The yokai only glanced up once, making note of the arrow that had planted itself in Everie's shoulder. She finished her incantation, dirt erupting from the ground where she had been drawing. A rotten stench filled the vicinity and the sharp claws of a rather blackened skeleton peeled from the ground. Her animation rose from the dirt and Earth, stark yellow eyes peeling open. Kage pointed towards the bandits and muttered the order, "Go."
The skeleton, a direct piece of Kage's rather dark magic that loomed within, meandered without caution towards the bandits, paying no mind as arrows clattered against it's barren body.
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